I took a run in Palo Alto the other day, around Stanford. You see, Stanford has this large park area called "The Dish." Everyone from Stanford knows about it, as it is a popular hang out spot for the day (at night, mountain lions roam). The Dish lies about 1 mile from the main campus. It is a large, hilly area, from which its name is derived: Stanford locates a (few) large satellite dishes on the tops of these hills, hundreds of feet up, pointed at the sky. Stanford is nice enough, however, to also maintain a running path there and allow the community as a whole to use it.

Anyway, I was running through the park in my Vibram five-finger shoes. The Vibrams help keep me my feet strong and fit. They are also small and light, which makes them great for travel. I was busily enjoying them, when this guy came up behind me. He said, "Nice Shoes." "Thanks." I was tired, so I did not immediately know what to say next. Then I looked down at his shoes, and he was running on the trail with sandals. I was astonished. Sandals easily fall off, so they require a certain continuous focus and muscle tension to keep them on.

I asked him about it, and he shrugged it off as nothing. He wanted some Vibrams, but he was able to pull these off in a pinch. He would be running barefoot, but the soles of his feet aren't toughened up enough for that, he said. "Wow," I muttered. This guy is intense. I tried to keep up with him for a 3rd loop around, but I was dehydrated and exhausted and I could not make it all the way up the second climb. I walked home. This thought lingered, but I kept my Vibrams.

But this guy helped me notice that my Vibrams were not entirely necessary. I do love them, and they make walking barefoot, flat great. But I may not need them. As you know, I am religiously careful about owning stuff, and I am constantly evaluating the few things that I own or consider owning within my stuff minimization framework. I thought that Vibrams would help me stay fit and lean, minimizing a beer belly, while themselves being light and small enough to throw into a bag without taking up much room as shoes would. They do, actually. Yet, if I can run with sandals, then I don't need them.

I did run in sandals in Hungary in this past trip. I could not use my Vibrams because I had a huge gash on my toe and I lost a toenail. It was painful to touch my toes, yet I could still run in my sandals with only a slight change in my form. Moreover, my new form for long-distance sandal running, based on my research, is an even better form for health and efficiency. The constraints of my stride imposed by the sandals force me to run in the optimal style.

I will probably not buy another pair of Vibrams once these wear out (the seams along the toes keep ripping, which I would call a defect in the manufacturing or design as many of my friends have the same problem).